“TABLE OF EIGHT” – HSMAI SOUTH FLORIDA OCT. MEETINGS

Our meeting this month at the Bimini Boatyard Restaurant was a sell out. We had a lot of walk-ins and had to turn away a few of them. Due to the limited space at the venue, we could only seat 66 people. It’s nice to be popular, but we hate to disappoint anyone as well. So, keeping that in mind, do make your online reservations well in advance so you won’t miss out on any of our future programs.

I was so busy with my registration duties that I didn’t get much chance to get updated on what’s happening around town. Did learn though that Anna Russo with the Riverside is busy offering some hotel packages for the Thanksgiving holiday; that Marcus Michaud with J-Productions was heading off to Las Vegas soon for one of their lavish productions; and heard from Pia with the Mai-Kai about the extensive remodeling/renovations in progress at the landmark restaurant; Have you checked out their ladies nights?

It was a wonderful opportunity to “officially” present our large check (representing our $5000 donation) to Women In Distress at the meeting. Mary Riedel, Jennifer Stewart, Hal and Lois Herman attended and represented the organization. Thanks again to our attendees who came through for our clothing/accessories drive to benefit WID.

Lee Knapp, Knapp Consultants, gave a wonderful motivational presentation with suggestions on how to prepare yourself for closing your sales. Some highlights included: figuring out in advance your objectives, developing questions that lead to the close, positioning the close, and selling benefits and value. One idea (that everyone can use) was her “close with B.I.Q.” – (“B”) Based on the fact that…, I (“I”) suggest that we …., followed by a question (“Q”), e.g. How do you feel about that?

One week later at the Embassy Suites, Ft. Myers-Estero, we had an encore presentation by Lee Knapp at our Westcoast Networker meeting. About 30 people came on Wednesday evening, October 22nd,for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, networking, and the educational session. We’d like to especially thank Beth Rice with Visit Florida and our SW Liaison Board member for organizing this event. Also thanks go to Dan Sullivan with the Embassy Suites for his hospitality and assistance. Attendees contributed to their community by bringing amenities and clothing which were to be donated to ACT – a homeless shelter in Fort Myers.

November’s meeting is a members-only event at Lynn University in Boca Raton.
It’s a wine reception and dinner is followed by a program focusing on revenue management. Lynn has limited us to 40 members only so do get your reservations in extra early via email. Their deadline for our rsvp to the venue is November 10th…eek! It’s around the corner. See you there?

HSMAI South Florida Chapter Giving to the Community…

We’ve been developing a partnership recently with Women In Distress. Our annual charity event and gala in June resulted in our Chapter’s donation of $5000 to Women In Distress (WID). At this month’s luncheon meeting on October 15th, we made the official presentation with our “large check” photo. Look for it to appear soon in the local press. In the photo along with our President Fernando Harb is Lois and Hal Herman (this year’s award winner for excellence in Tourism) along with Mary Reidel, President/CEO of Women In Distress.

In addition to the check photo, we conducted a clothing/accessories drive for WID. We’re happy to report that our meeting attendees responded very well to our call for donations with a “truck load” according to Jennifer Stewart, Director of Development for WID. Previously at our August meeting, we collected 87 cell phones during our cell phone “drive” which were given to WID. We are happy to be a small part in helping to work to stop domestic violence.

There’s still opportunity for you to contribute, should you have forgotten to bring anything with you or you have other items to donate.

Drop offs of gently used clothing, household goods, etc. and cell phones can be accepted Monday through Thursdays, 9am-9pm and Fridays 9am-5pm at the Jim and Jan Moran Family Center located at 1153 S Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale (NW corner of Davie Blvd. & Andrews Avenue); 954-760-9800.

Or if it’s more convenient, the same items mentioned above can be dropped off at their Blooming Sales Thrift Store located at 1372 N State Road 7 in Margate – on the east side of 441 between Coconut Creek Parkway and Copans Road. Donation hours at the thrift store are Tuesday through Saturday 11am-5pm.

Please let them know you’re with HSMAI-South Florida.

Also coming up: On Saturday, November 8th is our annual Community Event with the kids/families of the Broward Outreach Center. This year, instead of hosting a holiday party at the Center, we will be treating about 40 homeless kids from the Center to Wannado and dinner. If you wish to help out in anyway, sponsor, or attend with or without your kids, please contact Susan Stern at sstern@princebush.com

HSMAI-South Florida--New Members September 2008

Please join me in warmly welcoming the new members who joined our Association during the month of September, 2008. As you can see below, our Student Chapter at FIU has been quite active in its recruiting efforts. Keep up the good work!

Greg Bohan, FIU/Pinnacle Advisory Group; Kelly Degebo, Sarasota CVB
Danielle Doherty, FIU; Loren Forcier, Greater Ft. Lauderdale CVB
Stuart Gardner, USA Hosts Florida; Alicia Green, FIU
Michele Grimm, FIU; Dalia Hofman, The Setai
Jeannie Iruela,FIU; Serena Joaquim, FIU
Suzanne Kaufman, Greater Ft. Lauderdale CVB; Tiffany Kennedy, FIU
Sabrina Matthew, FIU; Arthur Mindermann, FIU
Vanessa Mindermann, FIU; Jeanette Parapar, FIU
Hannika Rodriguez,Creative Mindworks; Jennifer Shellings, FIU
Andrea Tseng, The Setai; Andrea Voss, Greater Ft. Lauderdale CVB
Heather Wheeler, FIU;

Customer Service – A Great Story to Share With Your Staff

A close friend now at a top-tier California hotel sent this to me. My apologies to the original sources, whoever they may be, and for the length, but it’s too relevant a story not to pass along and it bears repeating.

The story is called “Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar” and it goes like this:
“Harvey was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.' Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed me another laminated card. 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.' And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if
Harvey preferred to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' Harvey asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?' Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining!
Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said. 'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.”

And that’s the story. No one can make you serve customers well -- because great service is a choice. How about you, South Florida?

“TABLE OF EIGHT” – SEPTEMBER 2008 HSMAI MEETING

Once, again, our column name, assigned to tell you about our last meeting on September 17th, is a bit of a misnomer as it was a completely different set up for our joint meeting with MPI. Held at the Broward Convention Center, we had more than a hundred people attend in the late afternoon. Starting with coffee and sodas, an enthusiastic crowd from three counties came early for registration and networking. Michael Cohen and staff from Imperial Majesty manned a table top display with sponsorship monies going to aid our community event in November for the children of the Broward Outreach Center.

Stacie Faulds, President-Elect, HSMAI welcomed the group, talked about our Chapter’s mission, upcoming events, including the Broward Outreach Center’s Wannado City outing in November, and highlighted new members, including the new collegiate chapter at FIU. Special thank you was given to Nicki Grossman and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau for sponsoring the event and her year-round support of HSMAI. And Stacie welcomed MPI members to the event, acknowledging that together – GFLCVB, MPI and HSMAI – had a common desire to see South Florida shine in the world of meetings and conventions.

The meeting planners’ panel was moderated by Christine Tascione, Director of Convention & Group Sales, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, and member of HSMAI-South Florida as well as on the Board of the South Florida MPI chapter. Members of the panel included: Steven Pollock, Dahlton Bennington, Paget Kirkland and Mike Garcia. Discussion points included the change in economy and how it affects event planning and dealing with clients; the importance of building relationships and how to make your business stand out from the clutter; the green movement – everything from hosting green meetings to developing green standards to corporate social responsibility. A lively question and answer period held the group captive.

Following the program, we proceeded to enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and continued networking. Suffice it to say, a good time (and an educational one, too) was had by all.

Hope to see you at our next meeting on Wednesday, October 15th at the Bimini Boatyard Restaurant on SE 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale. Lee Knapp tells us how to be more effective in our marketing efforts: “Closing the Sale Begins at Hello.”